How the term "bake-off" came about

In P.R class, we've been discussing pseudo-events held by companies and celebrities and businesses throughout the ages. One event that caught my eye was the long-running Pillsbury Bake-off.

The contest, whose first official name was the "Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest," was created in 1949 as a way of celebrating the 80th birthday of Pillsbury, but some may see it as a way of getting quick and easy publicity. Basically, the main task for contestants was to come up with a brand new recipe using only Pillsbury ingredients and have the best tasting dish.

Originally, it was meant to be a one-time event, but popularity rose and the advertising team at Pillsbury decided to hold the event for one more year. Gradually, the "Bake-off" grew into an annual event that brings in loads of publicity.

The very first winner of the event was Theodora Smafield of Rockford, IL. She received a grand prize of $50,000, which, in that time was a very large amount, and still is. The most recent winner, Carolyn Gurtz, took home a whopping grand prize of $1 Million.

Needless to say, this contest has come a very long way from a one-time only baking contest, to an internationally known... baking contest.

A true all-star of pseudo-events.

This is the end.

The end of the term is here, and I will not be posting until next year. I have feelings of both, accomplishment and great relief. As for my battle with CreComm term one... I win.

Book Review of Dexter By Design

Dexter By Design by Jeff Lindsay
Published September 2009

Jeff Lindsay has been known to wow his readers with gruesome details and out-of-this-world plots. In his latest work, Dexter By Design, the fourth in the Dexter series, he delivers the same style of writing, except this time, it’s tired and predictable.

While in Paris on his honeymoon, the main character Dexter attends an art show with his new wife Rita. The show consists of a young woman removing one of her limbs with a saw and videotaping the entire thing. Lindsay does a great job of describing the show, making the reader feel that they are actually experiencing the gruesome event. Holding true to the title, Lindsay makes it clear in the opening chapter what this novel is about: the dark and twisted side of art.

Upon returning home to Miami, Florida, Dexter is welcomed back to his work as a blood spatter investigator for the Miami Police Department, with an art display containing no blood at all. Two bodies are discovered with their entrails removed and a basket full of goodies inside the stomach. Dexter’s murderous inner voice, (which he refers to as his Dark Passenger), tells him this is no ordinary murder.

Unlike the first two novels in the series, Lindsay keeps the presence of the Dark Passenger rather hidden, referring to him rather sparingly compared to the past. Originally, the Dark Passenger used to determine how Dexter would act through most situations, now we hear next to nothing about it or from it. It is possible that Lindsay is trying to mature his main character, a tactic that does not bode well throughout the novel, and quite possibly might lose fans.

After his sister Deborah is attacked while interviewing a suspect, Dexter makes his first mistake in the series when he kills an innocent bystander instead of the actual murderer. Not only does he commit this foul act, he is also caught on video by the murderer. As Dexter is now under surveillance, the murder threatens to reveal Dexter’s secret identity to the world, a staple to every novel in the series.

Unlike the rest of the series, Lindsay fails to bring the story to a proper climax by misleading the readers too many times with major, action-packed events. Dexter is knocked out by an exploding house, saves his family after they were in a head on car collision with the murderer, and he goes to Cuba to kill the murderer. After all this, nothing happens. Lindsay is unsuccessful with his attempt at creating a suspenseful and thrilling roller-coaster ride.

Lindsay ends the novel with little to no excitement as he spends less time with the ending as he does explaining a confrontation between Dexter and the murderer in Cuba. It seems that Lindsay is losing the momentum that carried his series all the way to a television series. He’s still got the perfect mix of dark humor and grotesque murder scenes, but this time, he lost the one thing that counts, the element of surprise.

Twitter Tracker!!

So I have been sucked in by the latest wave of social media, Twitter.





Today in PR class I was given the "assignment" (Just kidding) of creating a Twitter account. At first I was like "NO WAY MAN! NOT ME!" but now I don't mind it.

There's lots of interesting and funny people to follow on Twitter and I'm sure i'll be frequenting my page a few times a day.

Follow me on twitter

Tipping a gas jockey? Preposterous

I worked as a gas attendant (petroleum distribution engineer) for 3 years at the Interlake Co-op Gas Bar in Arborg, Manitoba. The town is quite small, only about 1,300 in the town, but counting all the people in the surrounding area, there is around 10,000. The Gas Bar was the only gas station in town. Needless to say, it was pretty busy.

Basically, my duty was to put gas in all the vehicles that came up to the pumps. When it’s -30 and it’s 7 a.m., who wants to go stand outside for 5 minutes, while standing still and watching little numbers go up? I hated it. Sure, they gave me ski pants, gloves, a parka, toque, and boots, but even though they look really warm, it’s not. Co-op clothing doesn’t maintain warmth whatsoever.

Lots of people were sympathetic when the elements were bad, I won’t deny that, but there were also a lot of people who didn’t appreciate it at all. The conversation would go like this. Me-“Hi there ma’am, how much gas could I get for you today?” “Fill it,” she says as she steps out of her gigantic SUV without even looking in my direction. The second she steps out of her vehicle, she is already heading directly to the store. Why say thank you? This kid pumping gas is a no body.

Out of my entire 3 years, I was tipped twice, and once was with a chocolate bar that was on sale for 50 cents. The one time I was tipped a loonie, the woman couldn’t have been more kind. It was the fall, so it wasn’t too cold outside, and her vehicle was filthy from top to bottom. I asked her how much she wanted and she politely responded and ended off with a please and thank you. I washed every window on her vehicle and all the lights. She came out and stopped in awe at the site of her vehicle. “OH MY GOD!” I never knew that a squeegee could bring so much joy to one person. She told me how grateful she was for what I did and in turn, she presented me with a loonie. She claimed that she would have given me more, but she didn’t have any more change on her.

I was so happy with the tip that I was a complete gentleman the entire day. Every person who came to the Gas Bar got 110% out of Jordan Johanson. That was one day out of three years. The other 1067 days, I was miserable. Let’s just say, it was a true half-assed effort, with me giving about 50% on a good day.

So the next time you complain about your gas jockey giving you bad service, just give him a dollar, you’ll make him or her happy for the rest of the day. If you don’t have a loonie on you, show your appreciation. Say thank you and give them a smile, they deserve it.

The Bromance

I first heard the term "man-crush" about one year ago. It came when a friend of mine had a guy who wanted to do nothing else, but hang out with him. So I thought to myself, " Okay... so they're just good friends?"

I didn't understand. Why do people consider it a "Bromance" when two guys are really good friends? So after I was told that these two friends were in a bromance, I asked the person who told me about it, "So are they gay or something?" The story teller quickly replied with, "No not at all. They just have man crushes on each other."

It made absolutely no sense. The story teller proceeded to treat the two guys like they were all weird. What's the big deal? Aren't girls allowed to be besties and consider themselves girlfriends? So why does a good friendship between two guys have to be considered a bromance? By those rules, all friendships between girls should be called "shemances." I don't know.

MTV went as far as having a show called Bromance. There was one main guy who had nine different guys compete to be the main guy's best friend, so that they could be in a bromance. Ridiculous.

I have good friends, but I wouldn't say that I have a man-crush on them. I've had the same friends since I was very young, but we're not in a bromance. Why did friendship between two guys have to get such a stupid label?

Bye-bye life

I hate that CBC has taken The Simpson’s off air. It is arguably one of the greatest shows in television history based solely on the fact that the show is currently in its twentieth season.

Personally, I’ve never met anyone under the age of 35 who doesn’t love The Simpson’s. The script is absolutely genius and is so timely. They’ve established their own style and have never needed to copy the humor of other lowbrow shows like Family Guy.

For the longest time, I’d come home from school at 3:45 and patiently wait for The Simpson’s to come on at 4. Then I’d watch the same episode again at 5, at 6, at 7. Then I could watch it at 6:30 and 7:30 and 8 on different channels. Life was good.

Nowadays, it’s hardly ever on. The odd chance I get to watch it comes at 11 o’ clock usually. Sad times.

The Simpson’s generation (ages 17-35 mostly male) is losing a vital piece of its livelihood. How will they keep up on their Simpson’s knowledge? Since I began school, I’ve quoted The Simpson’s close to once every day, and sometimes many more times.

CBC, do us all a favor and bring them back. You’re not winning any more viewers by replacing The Simpson’s with Wheel of Fortune. The Simpson’s generation isn’t that old yet…

Here’s a site that everyone should know and love: every Simpson’s episode for free!!!

www.wtso.net